Paloma: The Matron Saint of Dogs

In Mexico, you don’t have to look far to see a stray dog. Look closer and you can see dead ones, too. Machisimo ideology in regards to neutering males is partly responsible for the overpopulation. For 15 years, Paloma, a very unconventional woman, has been doing what she can to help them in spite of financial hardships. “The gratitude I receive from the dog is worth it,” she says.

Paloma mounts her scooter, starts it and eases down the first few meters of the street. She has not even ridden a block when a stray dog approaches her, wagging its tail. It has recognized her. She pats it without getting off the vehicle, and after making sure the dog is far enough from the street, she speeds up a little and keeps on riding.

Scenes like this are pretty common in Paloma’s everyday life. This 50-year-old woman first came to Malinalco more than 25 years ago, attracted by the peace of what the Mexican government has officially designated a “magic town.” She was drawn not only by the famous archaeological site, but also by the great number of stray or mistreated dogs in the municipality.

Zixian photographed some of the dogs that wander the streets of Malinalco. Click on the photograph to the right to see a slideshow of her work.

“If there’s a guy smacking a child in the street, everyone would stop and say ‘Hey, what’s your problem?,’ but not with dogs,” she says. “They are the most vulnerable. Cats and horses too. But I can’t fight against the whole world. Horses are not so mistreated since they are useful for work.”

Paloma emphasizes every phrase with her hands, her watch hitting the table several times. She wears a t-shirt, sweatpants and sneakers. Her short, curly, graying hair is tied by a headband. She has small, dark brown eyes. They are flanked by wrinkles. She frowns and raises her voice when she talks about animal abuse. She’s determined to change this situation. Ever since she moved to Malinalco she’s become the voice of these animals, promoting better conditions for them.

David Salinas Castro, a Zoo technician Veterinary Surgeon talks with Paloma about the future of the sterilization campaigns. “Malinalco is the only town whose participation has been constant, all the time there are campaigns due to Paloma.”

On June 17, she visited to David Salinas’s office, the veterinarian in charge of the health jurisdiction for the Public Health Program in Tenancingo, which includes Malinalco in the program. The visit was to collect drugs for a sterilization campaign Paloma organized.

“I would like to have a Paloma in every municipality since the most important thing is looking after animals,” Dr. Salinas says. “She convinces people to participate and she gets drugs. If there are no donations, she buys them herself. Every three years, there is a new administration and she makes it possible to enact new campaigns, though she sometimes pays for them herself.”

Celia, Paloma’s friend for 28 years, says she is a very passionate woman, with a great love for animals, especially dogs. “She gives everything for them. She has earned people’s respect,” Celia says. “People come to her as if she were the veterinarian.”

When Paloma gets home, she opens the gate that divides the entrance and her backyard. Immediately ten dogs surround her, jumping and barking, trying to get her attention. Thirty other dogs run and jump throughout the playground. Another 15 are inside the house, in the backyard or on the apartment roof. Almost all were once ill, mistreated or malnourished, and they were not only rescued from the streets but also from abandonment or from houses where they were not taken care of. All of them are now sterilized, vaccinated, dewormed and ready to be placed in a home.

“Last month five of them were given up for adoption,” Paloma says with a smile. She says her priority is respect for dogs and to make people aware of the importance of sterilizations and human treatment.

A puppy jumps towards Paloma’s legs, and she pretends to stare at him harshly. Some seconds later she smiles, takes him by his front paws and lifts him gently. As she carries him, the dog doesn’t stop wagging his tail and she lets him lick her cheek a few times. As she puts him down, another one approaches and she also lifts him with laughter. When she wants to tell a dog off, she raises her voice and calls the animal by its name. She never hits them.

In every room of her house, a two-floor building surrounded by plants, there’s fur on the floor, stuck to the fabric and floating in the air. The dogs go in and outside the house freely. Although Paloma keeps her house clean, the smell of dogs is everywhere.

Paloma keeps 55 dogs in her house. She tries her best to find adoptive homes for them. Paloma only picks dogs in extreme conditions and she limit dog numbers in her house because she wants to give those dogs a better environment to live.

Vodka, Tomasina, Kobaltsky, Mapi, Coyote, Ratón, Jack, Scar, Bambi, Jajalpa, Riguel and Ania – these are some of the 55 names that Paloma knows by heart. She also knows the story behind every single dog. “The first dog I rescued was Pinolillo. He’s still alive. His mom was beaten up and I had to put her down since she was completely blind. He was on his own in a field, and I used to give him food. He had been beaten up too and had a broken hind leg. The bone was sticking out because of the violence he had suffered. We had to cut his leg off.”

Nowadays Pinolillo and three other dogs, Palomita, Bruno and Meca, live in a plot of land that a friend of Paloma’s is trying to sell in order to preserve it and also, Paloma says, because they are too territorial and can’t reside peacefully with the rest of the dogs at home.

“We don’t have enough money to take care of so many dogs, but we do have the dogs,” says Roberto, her partner. He comments that most chats with Paloma are related to dogs: whether one is ill, arguments about the lack of resources to feed them and vaccinate them all, and that debts they have accumulated. “Living with her is insane!”

Fernanda, their daughter is also drawn in , “My dad, just like me, has told her to limit herself. But she can’t see a mistreated dog and do nothing.”

Fernanda, Paloma’s daughter, relaxes with dogs on her bed. Fernanda is a manicure technician and she shares Paloma’s love of dog. She always helps Paloma with the care of the animals.

At least once, Paloma has second-guessed her role in this cause. Once when her daughter Fernanda was five, the family was driving on the highway and Paloma and her husband caught a glimpse of a dog lying in the middle of the road.

“[The dog] hadn’t been run over yet,” Paloma says, “and we thought ‘we can’t just leave her lying there.’” Paloma and Roberto got out of the car just after telling their daughter to stay inside while they rescued the dog. They watched for approaching trucks and warned each other about the speed of cars. Paloma worried the dog might run away while Roberto tried to tighten the leash. They caught the animal.

Suddenly, Fernanda appeared beside her mother in the road asking her if they had succeeded. Paloma smiles with resignation as she recalls the scene. “My husband and I looked at each other and shouted ‘Idiots! We could have traded our daughter’s life for a dog’s!’ It was a hard blow.”

Still Paloma wasn’t deterred because, she says, “the gratitude you’re given by a dog is incredible. They would sacrifice their life for you, something that the two-legged ones rarely do.”

“Besides feeding the dogs here, she walks down the street with her bag of kibbles and feeds all the dogs she bumps into,” Roberto says.

For Paloma, there is always a way. “I spend more than I earn. But I’ve never run out of money,” she says. “When I’m about to, there’s always someone, an angel, and it tells me ‘Take this, it’s for the dogs.” She works as a fumigator and during the weekends she sells jewelry in order to earn 280 pesos, the price of the cheapest 25-kilo sack of kibbles, enough for one day. Despite this, Roberto says that the dogs have never gone without food.

“A friend of mine helps me by posting info on Facebook about sterilizations. Some send e-mails asking for donations. One’s got a magazine that has shown what we do. There are lots of people involved. They all help by doing little things,” Paloma says. “Most of my friends like dogs and help in some way. If someone tells me ‘I don’t like dogs,’ I don’t care about that person. We don’t have a lot in common.”

“Little by little people are becoming aware that adopting and sterilizing is better than buying,” Fernanda says. According to Roberto, “There are still dogs in the street, but not so many and not in such bad conditions.”

Paloma: Matron Saint of Dogs

Zixian photographed Paloma and her daily routine to care for 55 dogs. Click on the photograph to the right to see a slideshow of her work.

Paloma prepares dog’s food in the morning. Everyday she needs to prepare 25Kg dog’s food to feed fifty five dogs in her house.

Paloma keeps 55 dogs in her house. She tries her best to find adoptive homes for them. Paloma only picks dogs in extreme conditions and she limit dog numbers in her house because she wants to give those dogs a better environment to live.

While her dogs are eating, Paloma teases her cat. Each day she spends at leatst 300 pesos to buy dog’s food, which is a big burden for her.

Paloma washes a little dogs in her back yard.

Paloma sells handmade jewelry at Malinalco center market on weekends. Her friends give her these handmade jewelry so that she can have more money to help stray dogs.

David Salinas Castro, a Zootechnician Veterinary Surgeon talks with Paloma about the future of the sterilization campaigns. “Malinalco is the only town whose participation has been constant, all the time there are campaigns due to Paloma.” David says.

Malinalco Paloma’s kitchen is full of knick knacks about dogs. However, the kitchen is her cat’s world.

Fernanda, Paloma’s daughter, relaxes with dogs on her bed. Fernanda is a manicure technician and she shares Paloma’s love of dog. She always helps Paloma with the care of the animals.

Paloma, Roberto, and Fernanda sits together with their dogs. Both Roberto and Fernanda love dogs so they always support Paloma to rescue stray dogs. Credit: Zixian Chen

When Paloma back to her house, dogs welcome her warmly at the gate.

Paloma says “No” to a dog who tries to get on the table while she is talking with her husband Roberto.

When Paloma comes home from work, she spends more time with the dogs than going out. “This is what I like the most, being with them. They are always with you. That’s why they are known as man’s best friend.” What she aims for is “responsible owners who look after their dogs and treat them well, not just because their child wanted to have them.”

“I’ll keep on doing this. I’ll keep on working so there will be more sterilization campaigns and people will be more aware. I want Malinalco to be an example of a possible solution, of something larger.”